Child protection gets a boost with cyberbullying consultant appointment

Child protection gets a boost with cyberbullying consultant appointment.

Coinciding with the start of the new school year, yourtown Chief Executive Officer Tracy Adams has welcomed increased funding for Parentline from the Queensland State Government. The funding has enabled the appointment of a full-time cyberbullying consultant and will enhance state-wide online information services to Parentline, a service of yourtown.

Operating in Queensland since 1996, Parentline is the only service in Queensland that provides free professional and confidential counselling, education and support to strengthen parents and carers, no matter where they live. The seven-day-a-week professional counselling and information service is a critical service in promoting positive parenting of children living in Queensland.

According to yourtown CEO Tracy Adams, having a full-time dedicated cyberbullying consultant will make an enormous difference to Parentline in response to cyberbullying or online safety related issues.

“Parents or carers living in city, rural and remote areas of Queensland will have better access to get advice and information on how to deal with cyberbullying, as well as social media safety, addiction to technology and other technology-based issues to help keep children safe in our digital world,” said Ms Adams.

“As adults in their world we’ve got a big responsibility to not only protect children and young people from cyberbullying but also help them understand it. However, frequently parents share with us that they fear their children know more than they do about the online environment, and feel lacking when it comes to keeping pace with change or protecting their children from harm or from causing distress to others,” Ms Adams said.

Minister for Child Safety, Youth and Women Di Farmer said while parents and carers know their children best, they may not know the signs to look for or how to respond if their child is experiencing online problems such as cyberbullying.

“Parentline is such a valuable resource to parents right across Queensland, and as a government we’re very proud to be funding yourtown to expand their support to parents who need some extra information and assistance around cyberbullying and online safety,” she said.

The funding supports one of the key recommendations from the Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce, which aims to support parents and carers to help prevent and manage cyberbullying behaviour.

ENDS

yourtown Corporate Communications & Media Advisor: Maree Reason-Cain

Phone 0423 843 786 OR [email protected]